Monroe places 180-day moratorium on medical marijuana permits
Apr. 17—One Butler County city is imposing a 180-day moratorium on the granting of any new permits allowing retail dispensaries for medical marijuana within city limits.
After two Monroe City Council meetings — where members thoroughly discussed and at times disagreed on the merit of the ordinance — it passed unanimously as emergency legislation last week.
Once the 180 days expire, City Council can extend the moratorium, according to Law Director Philip Callahan. He suggested emergency legislation to "get it on the books now."
The ordinance has no impact on the dispensaries that are open or those in the planning stages. Vice Mayor Christina McElfresh said she didn't want to "negatively impact" businesses that are open.
McElfresh suggested placing the ordinance on the ballot so Monroe residents could decide.
"This is a big issue for our community," she said.
Callahan said if Monroe residents see a need for a ballot issue, they can obtain the signatures to get it placed on an future election.
Council member Dr. Kelly Clark said the "scientist" in her wants to hear from as many residents as possible.
"I don't like doing it blind," she said in regards to a council decision.
Clark hopes whatever council decides, it makes it "harder, not impossible" for dispensaries to open.
Last spring the Ohio Board of Pharmacy approved adding 73 dispensary licenses statewide, including three in Monroe, pushing the city's total to four.
Monroe has one marijuana dispensary operating and three more that are planned to open this year, city officials said. Once all four dispensaries are operational, Monroe, with a population of 15,412, will have one marijuana business per 3,853 residents, the highest rate in the state.
The only Ohio cities that will have more dispensaries than Monroe are Columbus (15), Cincinnati (11), Cleveland (5) and Dayton (5). Monroe is tied for fifth with Canton that has a population more than four times larger at 70,872.
Of the provisional licenses in the state, those include three in Butler County, two in Warren County, four in Montgomery County and two in Miami County.
There are 59 dispensaries operating statewide now, including multiple in Butler, Warren, Montgomery, Clark and Greene counties.
The first Ohio licenses for dispensaries were issued in 2018 and 2019, said Justin Sheridan, the board's director of medical marijuana operations.
During the Monroe City Council meeting on March 28, council asked city staff to review neighboring communities and how they handle marijuana legislation. Then at the April 11 meeting, Development Director Tom Smith told council that of the 14 area communities, nine don't permit marijuana dispensaries.
Clark said she wasn't comfortable with government determining what type of businesses could open.
"I get nervous when government interferes with free enterprise," Clark said, adding that's "a slippery slope."
Meanwhile, council member Michael Graves said he was concerned that additional dispensaries could open along Ohio 63, near Interstate 75, turning the city into the "Las Vegas strip of weed dispensaries."
City Manager Bill Brock has said he welcomes three more small businesses and said the city has had "no issues" regarding crime or drug abuse reported at the dispensary on North Main Street.
Monroe is a "desirable location" for marijuana dispensaries because of its location, said Mayor Keith Funk. The licenses are issued based on the requests for treatment prescriptions in a geographic region. The city of Monroe is geographically located between two regions: Southwest Region Two (Butler County) and Southwest Region Five (Warren County).
Strawberry Fields opened at 300 N. Main St. in Monroe in the fall of 2019. Jimmy Gould, the owner, said he sold that business and it's called Columbia Care.
Two of the provisional licenses in Monroe were granted to Shangri-La Dispensary Ohio (Orton Drive in Warren County) and Clarence Warner Drive (Butler County) and one to Deaver Ohio on Brooks Drive (Warren County), according to the Ohio Department of Pharmacy.
Smith said with an increase in awareness regarding the therapeutic applications of medical marijuana, a shift in age demographics in the Southwest Regions, and geographic features such as access, it is reasonable to consider that the patient population of the Southwest Regions will increase over the next couple of years, "driving the demand for additional dispensaries."
In addition, direct access to the I-75 corridor, no legislative prohibitions or regulations for the use, and a "fair amount of undeveloped land," make Monroe "a prime location" for additional dispensaries, he told City Council.
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HOW LOCAL JURISDICTIONS ARE HANDLING MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES — City of Hamilton: The city of Hamilton Codified Ordinances prohibits the cultivation, processing, or retail dispensary of any medical marijuana. This ordinance was passed on Dec. 20, 2017. — City of Middletown: On Feb. 21, 2017, the city of Middletown adopted Ordinance 2017-07 prohibiting the cultivation, processing, and retail dispensary establishments within the municipal limits of the city. — City of Fairfield: On April 24, 2017, the city of Fairfield passed Ordinance 33-17 prohibiting cultivation, processing, and retail dispensing of medical marijuana within its corporate limits. — City of Trenton: The city of Trenton originally had an ordinance prohibiting medical marijuana dispensaries. As of December 2021, that ordinance has been repealed and the code allows dispensaries as a conditional use. — West Chester Twp.: On Jan. 23, 2018, West Chester Twp. adopted Resolution 04-2018 prohibiting the cultivation, processing, and retail dispensing of medical marijuana within the township. Prior to the prohibition, the township enacted a six-month moratorium to study whether to limit or entirely prohibit the use. — Liberty Twp.: On March 8, 2017, Liberty Twp. amended its zoning resolution to prohibit the cultivation, processing, and retail dispensing of medical marijuana in all zoning districts. — City of Oxford: The city of Oxford permits the retail dispensing of medical marijuana but does not seem to have formal legislation permitting or prohibiting the cultivation or processing of medical marijuana. Similarly, the city does not seem to have regulations as to whether or not its dispensaries are permitted uses or conditional uses. On Feb. 9, 2023, the dispensary, Consume Oxford, officially opened making it the first dispensary in Oxford. Oxford plans to open a second dispensary, Inspire Cannabis, later this year with construction of the site in progress. — City of Franklin: Imposed a 180-day moratorium on granting medical marijuana permits to allow the city to study data and receive input from the police department regarding impact of these types of businesses. The moratorium was approved on Nov. 15, 2022, and will expire June 1, 2023. The City passed an ordinance prohibiting medical marijuana cultivation, processing, and dispensary activities. The ordinance went into effect on April 6, 2023. — City of Lebanon: In January 2022, the city of Lebanon enacted a six-month moratorium on granting medical marijuana dispensary permits. The moratorium expired in August 2022. The council extended the moratorium another six months after a new rule from the Ohio Board of Pharmacy allowed an increase in the number of dispensaries from one to seven in its district, which includes Warren, Clinton and Clermont counties. The city has one dispensary, About Wellness Ohio, and has not created any issues for the police department. The Lebanon Planning Commission has recommended a zoning text amendment regulating medical marijuana that would include: Dispensaries as a conditional use in their general commercial district, limit the number of dispensaries allowed in the city to two; prohibit recreational use dispensaries; allow cultivation and production facilities in the city's industrial use zones; provide use specific guidelines for facilities; and .add marijuana related definitions to the zoning code. — City of Mason: On Jan. 22, 2018, the city of Mason approved Ordinance 2017-139 prohibiting medical marijuana cultivation, processing and retail dispensaries in any zoning district, overlay or PUD.
SOURCE: Presentation from Tom Smith, city of Monroe's development director
Marijuana businesses
Cultivators: Level I cultivators are permitted to operate an initial marijuana cultivation area up to 25,000 square feet. Level II cultivators are permitted to operate an initial marijuana cultivation area of 3,000 square feet. Licensees may submit an expansion request pursuant to the cultivator rules.
Processors: A processor manufacturers medical marijuana products. There are three types of processors standalone, vertically integrated facilities, and a plant-only processor that is a cultivator who distributes plant material directly to dispensaries.
Testing laboratories: Testing laboratories include universities and private labs. There is no limit to the number of testing lab licenses that may be awarded by the Ohio Department of Commerce.
Dispensaries: The State of Ohio Board of Pharmacy licenses and regulates medical marijuana dispensaries.
SOURCE: The Ohio Medical Marijuana Control Program
